1968 Camaro Suspension Upgrade - Back To The Future II

Drop, Stop, And Roll

It's not too often that we get to guinea pig an all-stock Camaro; that's what makes this story all the more exciting. It's a knock-'em-dead '68 Camaro sporting all of its stock suspension (minus the polyglass tires) and the latest and greatest technology from the engineering experts at Heidt's Hot Rod Shop; a match made in heaven really, a beautiful First-Gen Camaro that needs to move forward in time and the modern technology to do it.

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The "Tall Spindle" raises the upper ball joint a designated amount. This new, higher position of the outer pivot of the upper control arm changes the arc that it swings in, which actually pulls the top of the tire in a designed amount, thus the "positive" camber change. Positive camber change tilts the top of the tire inward during compression and cornering. Since the car itself usually tilts outward slightly during cornering, the inward tilt of the tire will offset that and keep the tire perpendicular and the tire patch evenly planted on the pavement. Combine this revelation with Heidt's new tubular control arms-a much stronger, higher-performance design, and you've got an awesome handling combination.

Heidt's came up with a new, improved camber 2-inch drop "Tall" steel spindle that not only lowers First-Gen Camaros by a full 2 inches, but also lowers the center of gravity of the car for better handling, as well. For maximum performance, Heidt's decided it would be best if the upper ball joint was raised to the optimum amount-1 1/2 inches-to fully correct camber action during suspension travel. Complementing the new drop spindles is Heidt's tubular '67-'81 control arms. Heidt's Hot Rod Shop Camaro control arms come in standard width or narrowed. The narrowed control arms are narrowed 1 inch per side, allowing the tire to be pulled in, and ultimately means that the user can run a bigger wheel/tire combo up front. The upper control arms are constructed from a 1 1/4-inch-diameter tube and include offset cross-shafts for ease of alignment, which permits experimentation with caster settings that will allow better straight-line tracking, as well as better feel in the corners. As for the lower 1 1/2-inch-diameter tube control arms, Heidt's offers two different styles. One arm is designed to work with stock springs and shocks, and the other is designed to work with coilover shocks. Heidt's offers a full line of QA1 fully adjustable billet aluminum coilovers with an assortment of springs. All arms come complete with ball joints, urethane bushings to tighten up the suspension, and allow no deflection under cornering loads for absolutely solid positive handling, and are powdercoated for durability.

With the handling factor out of the way, it's time to talk brakes. Although there were different brake combinations on '67-'69 Camaros, not a one can compare to a newer designed system. Wilwood Engineering, which works in correlation with Heidt's, is a braking company that has had success on and off the track. The people at Wilwood have taken what they've learned through years of experience and incorporated it into several early-Camaro disc brake system options, one being the Dynalite Big Brake Front Hub Kits. Included in the kit are forged billet Dynalite four-piston calipers manufactured from stress-flow forged billet bodies. The calipers generate high clamping force without deflection from four stainless steel pistons, and the square faced O-rings provide long service and positive piston retraction on release. The calipers also feature Wilwood's SRS stainless steel bridge plates. The spring-loaded action of the SRS plates eliminates pad rattle, and dampens the vibration harmonics that can contribute to pad squeal. The hub and rotor is a two-piece set. The aluminum hubs are forged into shape under high heat and pressure, and then CNC-machined for a precise fit. Aluminum hats or backside mount plates are supplied for solid rotor mounting directly to the hub. The hubs are shipped complete with bearing races installed, new bearings, grease seals, screw-on billet aluminum hubcaps, and 1/2-20 RH Grade 8 wheel lug studs. The second part of the assembly is an SRP or HP Series 12.19-inch vented iron rotor. The 12.19-inch vented iron rotors are manufactured from premium grade, long-grain carbon iron to provide long wear with high thermal stability and resistance to distortion. The kit also comes with PolyMatrix 7112 "T" compound pads, CNC-machined brackets, and Grade 8 hardware. However, fitting and flex lines must be ordered separately.

Before we started taking her apart, however, it was time to get some test numbers from this Camaro. It was run through the 420-foot slalom, skidpad, and 60-0 brakes test. After we got some basic numbers of what this car can do in it's stock form, it was time to get rid of the old stuff and add the new stuff. Follow along with us.

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1968 Camaro Suspension Upgrade - Back To The Future II

The "Tall Spindle" raises the upper ball joint a designated amount. This new, higher position of the outer pivot of the upper control arm changes the arc that it swings in, which actually pulls the top of the tire in a designed amount, thus the "positive" camber change. Positive camber change tilts the top of the tire inward during compression and cornering. Since the car itself usually tilts outward slightly during cornering, the inward tilt of the tire will offset that and keep the tire perpendicular and the tire patch evenly planted on the pavement. Combine this revelation with Heidt's new tubular control arms-a much stronger, higher-performance design, and you've got an awesome handling combination.

You can begin your installation with the upper arms. Use the same shims that were in the old arms as a starting point.

The lower arms are next. They fit right in where the original arms were. The bushing sleeves come pre-lubricated in the arms. Simply insert the arms...

...and bolt in place. New hardware is included for the lowers, just remember that the heads of the bolts are towards the front. Since the sleeves pivot in the bushings, they can now be tightened, unlike rubber bushings, which must be tightened in position.

It's time to install the coilover units. Install the springs onto the coilover shock onto the adjustable lower spring seats. Since this is an "open coilover" and the spring is loose on the top, it is important that it be seated properly up into the upper spring socket. It is very simple, as the socket is notched to fit the end of the spring.

Now bring up the lower control arm and install the coilover to the socket in the arm. These arms are made for coilovers, so the crossbar on the coilover sits right onto its mount on the arm. Install the included bolts upright with the nuts on top. Tighten into place.

The tops of the coilovers are studs, just like the original shocks. The washer and lower half of the bushing should have already been installed on the coilover studs. Place the top bushing half and washer on the stud, and tighten the nut until it seats on the shaft.

These aren't just any old dropped spindles. Here you can see the difference between the stock spindle and Heidt's 2-inch dropped spindle. Along with the drop, the upper ball joint is raised 1 1/2 inches. This change greatly enhances the cornering of the car by changing the camber characteristics, which keeps the tire patch in full contact with the pavement.

So far so good. Now, here's the moment you have been waiting for. Place the new dropped spindles onto the ball joints of the lower control arms. Don't forget the boots!

Install and tighten the castle nuts, then install the cotter pins.

Clean up your stock steering arms, and bolt them in place on the new spindles using the included hardware.

Attach the Wilwood caliper brackets to the spindles; some Loctite is recommended here.

Install the tie rod ends into the steering arms and secure with the castle nuts and cotter pins. If you use narrowed arms you will also have to shorten your tie rod sleeves or purchase short ones from Heidt's. Stock-width arms use the stock sleeves.

Here is the complete suspension installed. You can see that the raised upper ball joint changes the angle of the upper arm, which genuinely improves the handling of this '60s car. Five g's, here we come!

Now it is time to turn our attention to the disc brake assembly part of our installation. Wilwood makes a direct bolt-on disc brake kit for these cars. It uses a three-piece rotor that you need to assemble. First install the new lugs into the hubs.

Next comes the rotor hat. Attach the hat to the hub and torque to specs provided. Wilwood includes an exploded diagram of how the rotors are to be assembled and the torque specs for the all the hardware. Always read the instructions.

Now comes the actual rotor to hat install. Three pieces now become one complete rotor.

Use the Loctite provided by Wilwood and according to the instructions.

Now torque the rotor to the hat according to the specs provided.

Finally, apply the safety wire as specified. The safety wire makes sure the bolts will never back themselves out and that they will remain tight.

After the new bearings have been packed, install them into the hubs, followed by the seals. Remember to use a seal driver to avoid damaging the seals.

Install the pads into the new calipers and install the keeper cotter pins, then install the calipers onto the rotors and brackets. Bolt in place with the supplied hardware and torque to specifications.

At this point you can bleed the brakes and you are pretty much done. You will have to install a new sway bar if you used narrowed arms as we did. The old bar is too wide and will come in contact with the spindles. Besides, the old stock bar is no bigger than a pencil. Heidt's carries a narrowed sway bar from Hellwig that fits both standard and narrowed arms.

With all this attention paid to the frontend of the car, what about the back? For the time being it's going to stay mostly stock, except for the QA-1 adjustable shocks. We've got 'em on the front so we need them out in the back, too.

Here is a shot of the shocks going into our stock rearend.

Last, but not least, with this upgrade you will have to move up in wheel sizes. It's simply a matter of clearance issues. Stay tuned as we install new wheels and tires, seat the brakes, and test the results of our up grades. We're expecting to have some great before and after numbers to compare...so don't touch that dial.

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